Bloody Competition
by The Coyote King
Summary: Post Season 2 and Pre Season 3. Dexter returns from London with murder on his mind,only to find his would be victim has already been dispatched. Dexter is intent on finding his new rival...if only he didn't have an annoying summer intern to deal with.
1. Bad Moon Rising

**Authors note:** I had this idea of a brief min-series between Seasons 2 and 3 of Dexter,but I wasn't quite sure if it would turn out any good. So i wrote the beginning. Leave your comments and if it gets a good reception, then I will add more.

* * *

The moon is once again full and filled with promise

It's been several weeks since I returned from London, Lila Morgan now taken care of. Life seems almost normal. With Sergeant Doakes no longer in pursuit of me and the Bay Harbor Butcher a distant memory, even my darker impulses have seemed to slow to a crawl.

That does not mean it's stopped though, it never will stop because it is a part of me. That is why I'm out tonight, cruising in the warm muggy summer air.

Tonight's partner in Dexter's Dark Dance is Lyndon Wiley. A former Grad Student who was questioned in the mysterious disappearances of five University of Miami freshman women. He was released when they could not find enough evidence to convict him. However as clever as he was eluding the police, he could not elude me. I've found his secret stash of photo's deep within the old musty stacks of the Library's basement. Each victim face covered in blood and twisted in terror.

I have set up those photographs in the place I will take Mr. Lyndon tonight.For now I creep slowly towards his house. The night is quiet except for the tinkling salsa rhythm coming from downtown and the faint call of sirens

Wait a minute…sirens?

The faint sound is getting louder as I get to the corner I need to turn to get Lyndon's house. I slam on the brakes, suddenly filled with shock.

Then my phone rings.

Shit shit shit

I take a moment to compose myself and then answer

"Dexter Morgan."

* * *

It's as I feared.

As I walk into the crime scene, Lyndon Wiley is already dead. I move about and make the appropriate faces, but deep inside me I grow curious. Who could have killed the man before I did and why?

My former victim is sitting in a chair, which is now caked with blood. Three holes in his head from a nail gun sealing his fate. He is not alone though. Surrounding him 5 wooden skull figurines, all looking up at the corpse. The skeletons are wooden and very frightening though something you can easily find if you're looking for them.

However there is one thing, most people wouldn't notice, because they're distracted by the theatrical scene in front of them. It draws my eyes like a magnet.

Beneath Lyndon's right eye, there is a small surgical cut.

My cut.

Impossible, and yet I see it before my very eyes.

It's been cleaned with disinfectant,so there is no blood coming from there anymore. Most would think it was an idle cut,but I know exactly what it is.I can almost see the glass slide the blood should have been on. My glass slide.

Was this done for my benefit or to show that there's a new player in town? That remains to be seen.

While other's see a horrific scene of death and murder,I just see the message that this person left for me. It teases me like a school yard kid.

_Too slow Dexter….too slow._


	2. Take It Like A Friend

Who is this person that's taken a kill so rightly mine?

This question roils in my mind. I manage to do my work on the crime scene, but inside I'm growling like a lion that's been robbed of it's meal. After collecting the blood work I turn to go and run into Angel

**" Sick bastard that did this one eh?"** he says to me as we emerge from the house

**" Yeah looks like."**

"**Skeleton statues were a little weird though right. People are thinking it might be a Santeria thing."** He says with a shrug of his shoulders.

Santeria is a big thing here in Miami, but I doubt it is. This has less ritual and more show to it than anything else. Normally they wouldn't even be considering this,but the revelation that one of their own was a serial killer (albeit the wrong one),their deductive skills have dulled. However, it's nice for me…I don't want the police to be on this person's trail just yet.

**"Could be…" **I say noncommittally "** Look I'm going to go grab a few Z's and then I'll start processing the stuff tomorrow alright?"** I say as I start heading to my car.

Angel nods and then walks off to rejoin the rest of the boys in blue. A few months ago I would have been back at my lab running those test as soon as I was finished there. However, that was when the infamous and nasty Bay Harbor Butcher roamed the streets. Then we would be doing anything to catch this monster, but, that monster has been taken care of.

Now the only monster left is neat little Dexter

Or so I thought.

I pack my blood work kit next to the discreet rolled up bag that contains my knives as I drive off. I get to my apartment and tumble into bed.

My dreams are filled with a of a skull on a table of glass.

* * *

The elevator rings as I step off with donuts in hand.

Dexter the Donut Guy: familiar territory.

However as I step into the squad room I see that another one of my territories has been encroached on. An empty donut box lies squarely on a desk. First a kill now my donuts, is nothing scared?

Vince Masuka approaches, squinting slightly in his way and extending his hand into the donut box in my hand.

**" OOoo seconds."** He says biting into the pastry

I fake a smile and say **" I feel like my territories being invaded here."** Pointing to the other donut box

**" Oh yeah…the intern guy brought them in."** he said

_Huh?_

"** Yeah…the summer intern guy, just got here today… You know what that means?" **he says angling his eyebrows **"Free work slave!"** he extends his hand for a high five and return it.

Dumping my useless box of donuts in the fridge for some one else to devourer I go to the solitude of my work space. It's then that I meet the new intern.

He's tall about 6'3, has dark hair cropped close and a dusky brown angular face. Around 24. His eyes are rimmed with golden framed glasses, a small goatee decorates his chin. He posses slightly muscular build and is dressed in a red shirt that shows that off. He's currently in my chair, spinning around like a kid.

**"hmmhmm."** I cough startling him as he leaps out of his seat. He looks down awkwardly and then stammers slightly

**" S-sorry about that Mr Morgan."** He says with a slightly accented voice** " Mr. Masuka sent me in here to see if you had any work for me to do and…well I just couldn't help myself … I mean an actual real crime lab."**

_A real crime lab_, dear god.

This guy has uttered two sentences and he already is grinding on my gears.

He extends his hand and says **"Sorry let me introduce myself I'm Victor Severo. I'm a third year med student and it's a been a real pleasure being…"**

He is thankfully stopped from continuing his dialogue as Deb loudly knocks on the door. He turns around and looked down awkwardly again and says **" Oh that's right,you probably have a official business and all that."**

I hand him a large stack of reports and say **" Get these copied and send one to the detectives on the front and one to Lt. La Gurdia."**

He nods and skitters out of the room.

Deb enters as Victor leaves and gives a large grin **" Heard you had a new office bitch around. Look at you already have him doing your work."** She looks backwards and says "** Got admit though, he's kind of cute for a little lab rat."**

I search for a appropriate response,finding **" Great look who's robbing the cradle now."**

Deb punches me in the shoulder** " Fuck you! I'm not that old! Beside since my last relationship, maybe it's time for me to be the older wiser one."** She said laughing though her eyes appear a bit distant

When I took a trip to London to deal with Lila, Deb flew to Oregon to try and reconcile with Special Agent Lundy. It didn't end well, but Deb seems to be taking it well. Of course, human emotions have never been my strong suit. I mutter some retort and Deb punches me one more time before leaving.

Once alone I silently think to myself that with the intern doing my busy work I can have time to myself to look at the kill that should have been mine.Sadly, I'm corrected as every few minutes Victor pops in to ask me inane questions. I answer them as patiently as I can, but the kid is distracting me from my work. It's only when lunch time arrives and he is sent out to pick it up for the rest of lab that I get the time to look at it myself.

Sadly, the blood work tells me very little. All the blood is Lyndon's so I am left with no clue of my mysterious rival. Although it is interesting that there are three nails in his skull. The first one would have killed him. _Why three?_

A puzzle that vexes me until the sun starts to set and I pack it in for the day. As I walk out the intern gives me a quick wave as he is still surrounded by lab paperwork. If I could feel pity, it would go out to that annoying intern.

Tonight I'm going over to Rita's, but first time to go home and take a quick shower.

* * *

As I unlock my door I get an odd feeling, as if something's off. A feeling I can't shake even after I take a cool shower and get on a change of clothes. I'm about to walk out when I notice it.

It's sitting on the keyboard of my computer. A small blue box,small and subtle. I would have walked right by it if I hadn't been paying attention. I open the box and my breath catches for a moment as I look inside.

It's a blood slide.

I don't even have to put it under a microscope to know that it's Lyndon Wiley's blood . There it is... gift wrapped for me. My new rival has left me a blood slide that should have been mine.

Another silent taunt?

A piece offering?

Now I'm even more confused.


	3. Get Down Woman

Rita's

Rita's.

A blur for me as my thoughts are elsewhere.

Though it's good to see Cody and Astor seem to be fine despite the fact that only a month ago they were part of Rita's goodbye barbeque. I act and respond responsibly, but my mind is elsewhere. Not about this strange new rival, but about myself.

Even as Rita sends the kids to bed and leads me into the familiarity of her bedroom, my thoughts are elsewhere.

* * *

True whoever this person is, they got one up from me. However, the true question is why was I so slow? I was sure of Lydon's guilt a week before I made my move, I was never that slow before.

Perhaps my discovery that the very man that taught me my code of killing was so repulsed by it that he took his own life. This fact has rocked Harry's code to the core. It's quite possible that I need a new code. I took my time with this one, because I was unsure if I should do it Harry's way

Or improvise

And in my unsteady hand…another slipped the kill from my grasp.

However, leaving the blood slide at my apartment has a certain air of my brother to it. However, that too is an impossibility as I killed him,and I'm sure I do not have more murderous siblings out there. So what does this all mean?

"What do you want from me?" I ask the ceiling

Luckily for me Rita is a heavy sleeper.

* * *

I don't have to wait much longer for my friend to show up again comes three days later as I am called to another crime scene. Victor the intern is wandering around lugging equipment to and from the house as people step outside and hand it to him.

Sorry Vic, no real crime scene for you.

As I enter the house, I take a look at the scene before me.

The victim is female, medium height, loose brown hair haloed around her. From what I hear in passing is that her name is Molly Hillsfar.

She is lying on the floor of her kitchen, three shiny nails embedded into her forehead. Another cut below her right eye, the wound cleaned and no longer bleeding. As my eyes glance upward I see a skeleton statue looking down upon her. It's stuck to the ceiling with duct tape. The mouth twisted into a horrible scream.

Subtle differences, but still the unmistakable touch of my friend.

Debora put it best as she caught me outside the crime scene

"Second one so far, I think we've got another fucking killer on our hands!"


End file.
